Air-control device for engines



L. W. GRISWOLD.

AIR CONTROL DEVICE FOR ENGINES. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 24, 1920.

Patented Sept. 14, 1920.

LESLIE W. GRISWOLD, OF DES KOINES, IOWA.

AIR-CONTROL DEVICE FOR ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Iatent.

Patented Sept. 14, 1920.

Application filed January 24, 1920. Serial No. 353,845.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Lnsnm W. GRIsWoLD, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Des Moines, in the county of Folk and State of Iowa,have invented a certain new and useful Air-Control Device for Engines,of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide an air controlled device ofsimple, inexpensive and efiicient construction involving shutter means,and an automatic control therefor.

More particularly it is my object to provide such a device peculiarlyadapted for use with air cooled engines of the type having a hood, whichtilts forwardly, and which is provided in many cases with upper andlower air openings.

With these and other objects in view my invention consists in theconstruction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of thedevice, whereby the ob'ects contemplated are attained, as hereina ermore fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a erspective view of an engine and hood equipped with anair controlled device embodying my invention, part of the hood beingbroken away to show the other parts.

Fig. 2 shows a vertical, sectional view through the shutter mechanism atthe front of the hood.

Fig. 3 shows a rear elevation of the shutter devices partly broken away;and

Fig. 4: shows an enlarged, detail view of part of the controllingmechanism.

It is well-known that with various types,

of automobile engines, particularly with air cooled engines, it iscommon to have a hood which tilt s. In several types of automobiles thehood is provided with upper and lower openings at the front so as toafford sufficient air for cooling the engine.

The air is usually, in some engines, drawn through the hood pastthecylinders and discharged at the lowerrear part of the engine.

Frequently a pump or fan is used near the flywheel for drawing the airthrough the hood.

It is well-known that with engines of the air-cooled type the engine isdesignedffor operation at a maximum efficiency, when the outside air isat some certain temperature.

While the engine can be operated, and

with considerable practical success under varying conditions oftemperature, it is known that especially in 'cold weather the efficiencyof'the engine is very much reduced, because of over-cooling.

It is also well-known that if the engine heat, after the engine has beenrunning for a short time, can be maintained at a certain predeterminedproper temperature, the engine can be run with much greater efficiencythan otherwise.

I have provided a device whereby the en- 'ne can thus be maintained atthe proper eat.

In the accompanying drawings I have used the reference numeral toindicate gen erally an air cooled internal combustion engine of thegeneral type used on wellknown Franklin automobiles.

The engine 10 is covered by a hood 11 which in the illustration shownand on the cars of the type mentioned is raised by tilting upwardly andforwardly. The hood 11 is provided in its forward portion with anopening of considerable size for admitting air, and ordinarily at thelower part of the hood in front there is also another opening,

I have provided a shutter device which can be mounted-on the hood, andan automobile controlling device which is also mounted on the hood, soas to be movable with the hood'an'd not interfere in any way with freeaccess to the engine parts.

My device includes a frame arranged to fit the first described openingat the front part of the hood, which frame is indicated generally by thereference character A. The frame A is provided with upper and sideflanges 12 designed to fit against and be fastened to the hood by boltsor rivets extending through the holes 13 in said flange.

Connected with the lower member of the frame A is a transverse framemember 14, which may be made integral with the frame A or may bedetachably secured thereto.

The frame member 14 projects laterally beyond the frame A, asillustrated for instance in Figs. 1 and 3.

On the ends of the frame member 14 are fixed closure members 15, adaptedto close the ends of the lower opening in the hood.

On the frame member 14 near the ends thereof are downward extensions 16.

Mounted in the lower opening, indicated generally at B in Fig. 2, is ashutter device 17 having at its ends spindles 18, one of which has itsouter end angular or squared.

Mounted on the squared outer end of one of said spindles is a shortupwardly extending arm 19.

Supported on the hood 11 at the slde from is a two-part rod 23, theadjacent ends of which are connected by a turn-buckle 24 for securingproper adjustment; The forward end of the two-part rod 23 is pivoted tothe upper end of the short arm 19, as illustrated in Fig. 4.

It will be seen that when the thermostat 22 expands with heat, the rod23 is moved forwardly for rotating the spindles 18 through the medium ofthe arm 19, for moving the shutter device 17 toward position for closingthe opening B.

Mounted in the frame 10 is a series of shutters 25. Each of the shutters25 has at its ends spindles 26 rotatably mounted in the frame Eachshutter 25 has at its lower edge a flange 26 adapted to overlap theupper edge of the next lower flange when the shutters are closed.-

Extending rearwardly from each shutter member 25 is an arm 27. Anoperating bar 28 is pivoted to the respective arms 27 by means of pins29. I preferably provide anti-noise washers 30 between the bar 28 andthe respective arms 27. e

The bar 28 is provided with a seriesof notches 31 to receive the upperrear edges of the shutter member 25. When the shutters 25 are open theprovision of these notches is not necessary. It is made in order thatthe bar 28 may be mounted a little closer to the shutter members 25would be otherwise possible. 1

Pivoted to the lower end of the operating bar '28 is a two-part rod 32,the adjacent ends of which are screw-threaded and'co'nnected by aturn-buckle 33. .The lower end of the two-part rod 32 is pivoted to anarm 34 on the shutter member 17, located below the pivot axis of saidshutter member.

In the practical use of my improved device, when the thermostat 22 is inits con tracted osition, the shutter members 17 and 25 will e heldclosed.

When the shutter devices are closed the shutter member 17 is inclinedfromits upper edge upwardly and rearwardly.

When the engine is operated and becomes thoroughly heated, thethermostat 22, which is located near the point of discharge of the airpassing over the engine through the hood, expands, moving therod 23forwardly, thereby rotating the spindles 18 for opening under the hood,and therefore enables than or use of mechanical equivalents the shutterdevice 17 and moving it toward its position shown in Fig. 2, where itsin- It will be noted from the foregoing'that,

my device is of very simple construction,

' and that the entire device is carried on the hood so as to beremovable from the car if the hood is removed, and also to be tiltedwith the hood out of the way of a mechanic who desires to work 'on theengine.

One advantage of my structure arises from the arrangement of the shutterdevices at the forward end of the hood controlled by a thermostatlocated near the point of discharge of heated air, and yet supported onthe hood in operative relation with the shutter devices.

The single thermostat serves to control both of the shutter devices, anda wide range of adjustment is possible on account of the use of theturn-buckles 24 and 33 some equivalent.

The advantage of having an air controlling device automaticallyregulated according to the heat of the engine is obvious.

Another advantage of my structure arises from the fact that thethermostat automatically closes the shutter devices after the englnecools down, so that the heat is retained doing away-with card-board orothercrude device for closing the opening in the front of the hood incold weather. 4 Some modifications of my device may be I made whichwould be within the spirit of my invention, and it is my intention" tocover by my claims any such modifications i which may be included withintheir scope.

I claim as my invention: 1. In a device of the class described, the

' combination of a tiltable hood, with an adjustable closure member inone end, a bracketon the interior of said hood adjacent to its otherend, a thermostat on said bracket, and means for operatively connectingsaid thermostat with said member whereby the closure member andthermostat are wholly supported on and movable with the hood.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a tiltablehood having in one end spaced, air openings, movable closure devicesmounted in said openings, and supported on said hood, a thermostatdevice mounted on said hood, and means for operatively connecting saidclosure devices with said thermostat device.

- 3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a tiltablymounted hood, having in one end spaced air openings, adjustable closuredevices mounted in said openings on said hood, a thermostat devicesupported on said hood, means for operatively connecting said thermostatdevice with one of said closure devices, and mechanism for operativelyconnecting the closure devices with each other. p

4. In a device of the class described, the combination of a tiltablymounted hood, having in one end spaced air openings, closure devicesmounted in said openings on said hood, a thermostat device supported onsaid hood, means for operatively connecting said thermostat device withone of said closure devices, said means being adjustable for regulatingthe efiect o the thermostat on the closure device with which it isconnected.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination of a tiltablymounted hood, having in one end spaced air openings, shutter closuredevices mounted in said openings on said hood, a thermostat devicesupported on said hood, means for operatively connecting said thermostatdevice with one of said shutter devices, mechanism for operativelyconnecting the shutter devices with each other, said last means beingadjustable for varying the operative eifect of said shutter devices oneach other.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination of a hood, havingan engine mounted for tilting movement, said hood having in its forwardend upper and lower openings, a frame fitted into said upper opening,shutter members mounted in said frame, a shutter device mounted in thelower opening, a common controlling bar .for controlling all of theshutter members on the upper opening, adjustable means for connectingthe shutter devices in the upper and lower openings, a bracket standalong the interior of said hood on one side thereof supported on saidhood, a thermostat supported on said bracket near the rear end of saidhood, means for operatively connecting said thermostat with the shutterdevice in the lower openlng, sald shutter device and thermostat andbracket being wholly mounted on said hood and movable 14 1920. msWoLD.

therewith.

Des Moines, Iowa, J anuar LESLIE W.

